The Washington Glory Are About to Get a Lot More Popular

Two things you should know about the Washington Glory, D.C.'s own entry into National Pro Fastpitch, even if they play at Westfield High in Fairfax County.

1) Dmitri Young has been known to frequent their games. Some sort of family friendship. But if it's good enough for Dmitri, it's dang sure good enough for you.

2) Five members of the team appeared on the Junkies this morning. Much of the conversation was fairly bawdy, and included discussions of calendar possibilities, tight-panted baseball players, lesbianism in women's sports, real-vs-fake and other staples of proper morning radio. But the end result was that this nsfw photo of Glory infielder Bianca Cruz wound up on the Junkies' Web site. A lot of people on the Internet are about to start looking at that photo.

Several of the players said they weren't opposed to using their looks to promote their team and their league; this would appear to be a solid start.

Steinberg, you're an ass. As big an ass as the junkies. where the hell were you last season when they were winning the championship? oh yeah, sniffing red skins underwear. now you come out, this is how you get your rocks off. great, can the post get someone who isn't sexist.

I love the Washington Glory. They're so talented and fun to watch. HOWEVER, I find it sort of depressing when any athletic prowess the women have is completely ignored in favor of their "hotness". Considering the Washington Post failed to print anything at all (on this blog, in the paper, anywhere) when they won the league's national title last year, but this little gem of a story was up within hours of the radio broadcast.

I guess the players are young and might not know any better, but the majority of people who come to watch their games are not greasy, softball-player pawing men. They are families with little girls who play. I have to question their marketing strategy if this is the best they can come up with.

This was on the Junkies website: "Who knew softball players could be this hot? Today we were joined by the sexy softball babes from the Washington Glory. Nicole Thompson, Calista Balco, Bianca Cruz, Taryn Mowatt and Nicole Barber joined us in studio and couldn't have been any cooler. We might even get them in bikinis at our Junkette Search! Check out their pics in the Message Board. Some are in Recent Photos too."

As an aside, they couldn't even be bothered to check the Glory website for the correct spelling of the girls' names--most are misspelled here although the most naked one is correct. Imagine that.

Consider these excerpts in my email exchange with the Washington Post in June 2007.

Me:
"Hey, is there any way to provide some coverage of the Washington Glory? I have three daughters playing fast-pitch and we want to be able to keep up with the 'local' team"

Kerry Flagg of the Post:
"At present our coverage of The Glory consists of running boxscores the day
after their games (when they are sent to us by the team). As per discussions with our managing editor there are, unfortunately, no immediate plans to expand that coverage."

Me:
"That's sad to hear. I think it would provide young girls with a motivation
to play sports if they were able to read about a local team."

Kerry Flagg of the Post:
"I'll pass your comments to those in charge here."

Me:
"Thanks. I would be interested in hearing their response."

Of course, I never heard back.

Hey Post, how about covering a winning team that plays for the love of the game and certainly not for the money?

And maybe these girls won't feel like they have to resort to being on the Jerkies and having to do stupid stuff to get some coverage.

Hey Post, my friends and I play in a really fun kickball league that about 100 people in the DC area know about...do you think we could get you print the results of our games on a daily basis? Thanks.

C'mon people, it's softball. 99.9% of the people in the area didn't know there was a professional softball league, let alone a local team.

I would think for a group in that position, there is no such thing as bad publicity. They are a sports team on a show that talks sports and targets a sports-viewing demographic. Sounds like a good fit. Or maybe they should just find the morning drive show that targets softball moms and their pre-teen daughters. They can talk about wholesome things like the value of practice, wearing conservative clothing, and drinking milk.

These are obviously talented young ladies that take care or their bodies, and know how to make themselves up when away from the field. No one was forcing them to do this interview, they knew what they were getting into, and they had a good time.

Nooch:
Get a grip and understand the difference between professionally paid athletes and your little recreational league.
Do you have any idea of the extent of the following of fastpitch softball in this area? Travel teams, local area leagues (we were in the LLGSL for years) and the fact that Sterling hosts national championships every year? Check out the ASA National Championships coming to Sterling at the end of July. You'll be a amazed at the level of competitive play displayed by the 14U, 16U and 18U teams. And as your jaw hits the floor, understand that you're only seeing the B level teams this year.

Softball is the most popular women's sport out there! The NCAA continues to get it wrong promoting women's basketball over softball. The ratings speak for itself when the WCWS outrates the women's final four. Not to mention the WCWS also has to compete with the NBA and NHL Playoffs when women's basketball has to go up against MLB Spring Training.

Softball is the only women's sport which is faster paced than its male counterpart. That is another reason why softball is slowly becoming more popular among the male demographic aside from some players being very attractive.

I have had experience in both pro baseball and pro softball. Many will attest to that. However, when comparing the two, I'd take women's fastpitch any day. I watched the All-Star Game and feel that if you want to increase scoring in baseball, shorten the basepaths. The fact that Longoria didn't squeeze with one out and the winning run on third says a lot about baseball players not being able to bunt. Most of the Glory players can and the squeeze happens about once a series depending on the situation.

As a broadcaster, it's a lot harder to broadcast the Glory games than it is a baseball game. Baseball gives me enough time to use all the facts that myself and our stats guys come up with (props to Chris and Steve). However, in pro fastpitch, I'm barely able to use any of that information because of how fast the games go. There's a lot more action and when something happens, you never know quite where to look as something else could happen. Numerous times, I've only been able to get 50% of the play as it happens, then have to replay it so the fans at home know what's going on.

Cruz was not released because of her appearance on the show or web site, but because she is actively pursuing a Pysical Training degree and this will allow her to do so before the next school year begins. Good luck Bianca.